Friday, July 30, 2010

Recommended: Stuff I've Recently Tried and Liked

1. The Lobster Shanty in Fenwick Island. It's casual and fun and has a great view, but the food is also fantastic (unsurprising, since David Twining owns it). The highlights of our meal there included the sangria, the lobster guacamole, and Cooper's seafood stew - which had such great flavor that we had to ask for another spoon after Dixon hijacked Cooper's.

It gets crowded early, though, so either go at an off time, or be prepared to wait.

2. This fresh corn pesto and bacon pasta dish. It's billed as an appetizer, but we had larger portions for dinner the other night and it never got boring. It even reheated nicely the next day. Actually, for that matter, it was pretty good cold. The flavors are super fresh and just a little sweet - it's an excellent late summer dish that makes the most of what's in the garden.

3. The Dogwood Restaurant wine club. We went for the first time this past Monday and had a wonderful time. For one thing, the people are fun. For another, the food is amazing. But most of all, the selection of wines and the pairings are so thoughtful and Galen and Bridget Sampson, the owners of the restaurant, are obviously committed to sharing everything they've learned about wine. The packet of information that came with dinner warmed my researchy heart...and the gigantic pours warmed, well, everything else.

The club takes place on the fourth Monday of every month, and it does fill up, so it's important to make reservations early. Seriously, you won't regret it.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Old School Thursday: Not Really Seasonal Edition

Today is National Lasagna Day. That’s right – July 29th is National Lasagna Day. Because lasagna is pretty much perfect late summer food? Well, tomatoes are in season. At least there’s that.

It’s also St. Martha’s Day – she’s the patron saint of butlers, dietitians, cooks, innkeepers and waitresses. Yes, dietitians. They have their own patron saint.

And, just in case you’re in or around Buffalo today, it’s Chicken Wing Day. Because, you know, wings are good.

And that’s it! No birthdays of personages of note, or major food-related historical events. Just lasagna, dietitians, and wings!

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

I Heart Jonathan Adler

I love him anyway, but this, from August's Bon Appetit, makes me melty (even though he's not actually from Maryland):

"Are there any foods that remind you of home?

"Steamed crabs. I'm from southern New Jersey, near the Chesapeake Bay, and we always had them with Old Bay seasoning."


Designing Tuesday: My Country Girl Side

When I was in high school, I owned not one, but two blue and white gingham shirts. I spent a whole lot of time wearing one of the shirts + white jean shorts + a big, fat white bow in my hair. At the time, I thought it was cute. OK, I still think it was cute, but I might be wrong.

Anyway, my penchant for gingham clothes might explain why I got a little bit fluttery when I saw Herve Pierre's NYC home on The Selby:





Yes, it looks like gingham threw up everywhere. But is that necessarily a bad thing?

Monday, July 26, 2010

Last Night's Dinner: Fish Tacos with Pickled Onions and Peppers

We had a busy weekend with lots of work-related obligations, but we managed to eat pretty well anyway. Friday night, I used CSA eggplant an Ceriello sauce, pasta and mozzarella to make eggplant parmigiana, which we ate quietly while watching all our DVRed shows. Saturday, Alicia and Mike and Kyle and Mary came over (with Kyle and Mary's new puppy Mia) and we had crab cakes and a super simple panzanella made with sourdough bread and tomatoes from our garden.

And last night, Bill came over and, at Cooper's suggestion, I made fish tacos. I don't cook a lot of fish at home, but I'm not really sure why. These were really easy.

I started with this recipe, but twisted it around a bit. I made the pickled onions and peppers exactly according to the recipe and they were fantastic. After only about two hours of sitting in the refrigerator, they were bright and acidic and a little sweet - a really nice complement to the lightly fried fish.

Speaking of the fish, I used tilapia and I skipped the cilantro in the buttermilk mixture. When I cooked them, I only dredged them very lightly in the flour - I didn't want a heavy fry - and I pan fried in olive oil instead of vegetable (have to be heart healthy, you know). It took forever, and I wish I had just cooked the fish in large pieces, then sliced it after cooking, but the flavor was great.

We served the fish and onions and peppers with those Trader Joe's handmade tortillas that are so good, plus pepper jack cheese, guacamole, salsa verde and salsal fresca, sour cream, and lettuce. We all ate too much.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Summer Drink Recipe: Martha's Yellow Tomato Bloody Mary

I'm swamped (again) with work this morning, but I am also staring at a ton of freshly grown tomatoes that are just begging to be made into a drink - like this one. Sounds like a perfect way to kick off a summer brunch, right? And a great way to use the piles of tomatoes everybody's got this year.

It feels like the opposite of last year - when our plants yielded about three tomatoes (but fifteen thousand habaneros).

Speaking of overwhelming amounts of produce, it's fig season again here at the Pollard abode. So once again, I'm in search of new ways to use huge amounts of figs. Suggestions are welcome!

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Old School Thursday: Feeling Continental Edition

Today is National Penuche Day and I am not totally ashamed to say that I had to google “penuche” to figure out what it was. But once I saw a picture, I realized I’ve eaten it a million times. So OK, national day, you raised my awareness. So you’re worth it.

Today is also a big day on the Continent, starting in 1461, when Charles VII of France was born. While Charles himself didn’t contribute so much to the world of gastronomy, his mistress, Agnes Sorel, was a famous cook of the time.

Fast-forward almost four-hundred years, to 1822, and Gregor Mendel was born in Austria. Mendel, of course, is the botanist who developed the science of genetics. Which, obviously, has a whole lot to do with food.

Finally, sadly, today in 1956, Maurice Edmond Sailland, more commonly known as Curnonsky, fell out of a window to his death at the age of 84. Curnonsky was a French writer of all types, but he was also awarded the title “Prince of Gastronomes” – the only man to ever receive the honor in a country that is just jam-packed with gastronomes.

So, today, to celebrate, why not go Gallic? And, of course, add in a little penuche, just for luck.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Is Applebee's the New McDonald's?


We're catching up on all of our TV that appeared during our vacation, so last night we watched last week's episode of No Reservations, in which Tony visits America's "heartland." In reality, only a few of the cities he visits are actually "heartland" - since when is Austin lumped in with Columbus? - but overall, the episode wasn't as condescending as I feared it might be. Oh, there was a bit of "I can't believe the food's so good/interesting," but, well, it could've been worse.

The most interesting part of the episode to me was a throwaway line - something Bourdain says to Michael Ruhlman while they're sitting in a Japanese restaurant in Columbus. He says something like, "not everybody in the heartland is eating at Applebee's."

Applebee's comes up a lot in pop culture these days. It's the local restaurant in Dillon, TX on Friday Night Lights and it plays a kind of big rhetoric role at the end of the movie Couple's Retreat (which we watched last week - totally funny). In both of those cases, it acts as a sort of shorthand, indicating that the characters who eat there are good, normal, typical middle Americans. There's got to be a little bit of a wink and a nudge here, though, because my real-life impression of Applebee's is that it kind of sucks - it's the least good of TGI Friday genre.

In short, Applebee's is the new McDonald's. McDonald's, with all its Supersize Me-ness, means something different than it used to. It's no longer a family restaurant that can convey something even a little positive about Americans. It's a punch line. Applebee's is almost there - it's got a little bit of punch line in it - but not quite. The entrees might not be healthy, or even that good, but at least dinner at Applebee's involves a waitress.

When, exactly, did this happen? I'm not sure. But I do know that Applebee's has unseated McDonald's. For the time being, anyway.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Beach Trip 2010: Dixon's First Crab Feast

I've got a lot to write about last week's beach trip - even though this year we skipped the theme nights we've had in the past. However, since it's my first week back after spending most of July on vacation, I'm positively drowning in work.

I will leave you with this, though, my favorite food-related moment of our trip:

Dixon, picking crabs for himself for the first time ever. He spent most of his time hammering on feelers with his mallet, but he had a blast, and maybe even found a little of his own meat. It was a proud, proud moment for me.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Going on around Town

I'm back from vacation and am jumping back into a super busy week of work and other things. So it's no surprise that the food world is busy, too.

Such as: this week (starting last Saturday) is Maryland's "Buy Local Challenge" week. It basically is what it sounds like - a week designed to encourage people to buy more local goods.

It's also time to start thinking about Baltimore's summer Restaurant Week, which runs from August 13 to the 22nd. I'm sure several restaurants will run restaurant week specials all month, or at least for an additional week or so, like they usually do. It's a great reason to go out...as if anyone needs a good reason not to cook in the middle of August.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Mini-Restaurant Review: Cinghiale

Note: This review, like most of them on this site, is based on just one visit to the restaurant. So please keep that in mind.

A while back (OK, it's been two months and I'm a slacker), Cooper and I had dinner with our friends Alison and Sean one random Saturday night. Actually, it wasn't that random, since it was Alison's birthday, but the dinner was a fairly last-minute sort of deal.

Alison, if you need some backstory, is my friend from high school and was my roommate during my crazy younger days. Sean, her husband, was in Cooper's fraternity. Sean is also Mike's best friend from growing up and high school. Like everything about Baltimore, our little friendship corner is incestuous.

Anyway. Onto the meal. We decided to go to Cinghiale (822 Lancaster Street, 410-547-8282), Cindy Wolf and Tony Foreman's Italian place in Harbor East. None of us had been there and we'd all wanted to go for a long time.

Cooper and I arrived early and had a drink at the bar, which was long and had an old school European vibe that I find immensely appealing. I am a sucker for big, somewhat tarnished mirrors, which is what hangs behind the bar, and for airy restaurants with a friendly, but not downscale, sort of feel. That's the vibe at Cinghiale. It seems like a restaurant that's been in the area for much longer than it has.

My cocktail was really excellent - it was a summery combination of basil and prosecco and limoncello that was perfect for the spring day. When we sat down at our table, I very nearly ordered another. But at that point, it was time to focus on the matter at hand: what we were going to eat.

The menu is a little overwhelming. There are a lot of options and several different paths that you, as a diner, can take. We opted for the more formal choices, though I'm sure the more casual "della Nonna" dishes are excellent as well.

Each of us decided to go with the three-course option which, when paired with wines, is $75 (without wine it is $52). As a result, we managed to try a variety of different dishes. So many, in fact, that I'm not going to write about them. But I did make a little chart of what we ordered. The dishes highlighted in yellow were the group favorites:


As you can see, I was not a big overall winner. Each of my dishes was good, but I always ended up wishing I'd ordered something else. The proscuitto di Cinghiale was tasty, but in the end, it was a big plate of proscuitto. The spaghetti with lobster and red sauce was also good but it wasn't anything exciting. And the duck, while excellent, was also very rare. I'm a rare meat-lover, but it was almost too rare for me.

By contrast, Alison's calamari was really perfectly cooked and Sean's veal chop was absolutely amazing. I can't pretend I wasn't wildly jealous.

One place I did come out ahead was in dessert. I ordered a selection of three cheeses and was very happy with my choices (not that I could even remember them by the next morning. I also ordered a glass of champagne for dessert).

Service was excellent, from start to finish and the paired wines were truly thoughtful. Overall, it was a good experience - good food, good service, nice atmosphere. However, with our additional drinks and desserts, it was a pricey one. It's definitely a special occasion place, but without the formality associated with many more expensive restaurants.

Will we go back? Maybe, though not anytime soon. And it definitely won't replace Petit Louis as my favorite Wolf/Foreman restaurant - now that's a place that does an excellent job straddling the neighborhood/special occasion line (as an aside, we had dinner there last week, including perfectly tender veal sweetbreads and a ridiculously silkly golden zucchini soup).

But I digress. Cinghiale: it's good, but it hurts when the bill arrives.

[Photo credit: an old post on the Sun's Dining @ Large blog.]

Cinghiale on Urbanspoon

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Old School Thursday: Fakey Fake Pants Edition

Today is National Tapioca Pudding Day and Gummi Worm Day and the thought of the two of those things together is making me more than a little nauseous.

Much like some of today’s other news, actually. To start, today in 1869, Hippolyte Mege Mouries patented margarine, which he created after Napoleon III offered a prize for the creation of a decent butter substitute that could be used by the French Navy. Thanks a lot, Napoleon. Now, I’ve eaten my fair share of margarine (it’s what all moms cooked with in the 80’s, right?) but it still grosses me out. Vive la beurre!

In other fakey food news, today is Orville Redenbacher’s birthday (1907). I actually don’t really mind microwave popcorn. Well, at least not all the time. Sometimes it’s kind of revolting.


And that’s it – fake butter and popcorn that’s dressed in fake butter. What a day.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Dispatches from the Beach: Mini-Restaurant Review of Harris Crab House

We're in Bethany this week, for our annual week of sun and sweet tea vodka drinks with Mike, Alicia, Bill, Kyle, Mary and all the kids. It's chaos, as usual, but in a good way. Dixon keeps waking up really early and has been singing a lot of Lady Gaga. Par for the course.

We sent Dixon down on Thursday night with Cooper's parents, and the two of us had a leisurely drive down on Friday afternoon. So leisurely that we stopped for a late lunch at Harris Crab House (Kent Narrows Way North, 410-827-9500), just over the bridge.

We'd been to Harris before - it had been a few years, but we knew what to expect. The interior is straight up crab house, but in a cute way, not a dirty way (and there is a difference). Brown paper on the tables, big airy decks, nice views of the marina, and walls lined with vintage oyster cans.

The last time we were there, I had crabs, which, if I remember correctly, were good. Friday, we didn't really have time for a long sit-down (and when we eat crabs, it takes some time) so we each ordered a lunch special. I had the stuffed soft shell crab and Cooper had a grilled rockfish sandwich.

Both of us were totally, completely happy with our meals. My softshell was crispy from a light saute and stuffed with a lumpy imperial. It came with onion rings (awesome) and a perfectly cooked, very sweet ear of local corn. Cooper's rockfish was sweet and tender on the inside and charred and crispy outside - exactly what he'd hoped for.

So the seafood was great, of course, but we might have been most impressed with the house-made Old Bayish seasoning that was on the table - it had great spice without being too salty - and the squeeze bottle cocktail sauce, which looked like thin ketchup but had just enough of a horseradish kick that it was perfect. We tend to be judgy and picky about cocktail sauce and seasoning, so we were surprised to be impressed by both.

The service fit the spot - friendly and prompt and wearing t-shirts.

It was a perfect spot to kick off our trip and - so far it seems - a good omen. It's been a great trip so far. Rainy on Saturday as we moved into the Bethany house, but sunny and not even too hot all day on Sunday and Monday. The waves are a little rough, but the water feels good and the kids are happy. So really, what more could we ask for?


Harris Crab House on Urbanspoon

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Ocean Spray at Artscape


Is anybody going to Artscape this weekend? We'll still be at the beach, so I'm sad to miss it but, well, we'll still be at the beach, so I can't be too sad. But Ocean Spray Brad just reminded me that the Ocean Spray Mobile Tour will have a booth at the festival. Which means free stuff.

Speaking of Ocean Spray, we've also got some big plans for their new blueberry juice. Starting with a boozed up version of the blueberry beret...but probably not stopping there.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Restaurant Review: Pappas

Note: This review is based on just one visit to Pappas...so make of that what you will.

A long, long time ago, way back in April, Cooper and Mike and Alicia and I had a nice little dinner at Pappas Restaurant in Parkville (1801 Taylor Avenue, 410-665-4000). It was just - and I mean just - before Maggie was born and Alicia was in the mood for a crab cake. And who's going to tell a very pregnant girl no?

We'd heard about Pappas, of course, since it's a Baltimore institution, but hadn't been, so we rolled over there one Friday night. Despite the restaurant's long-standing reputation, our expectations were moderate. We had a pretty good idea of what the restaurant would look like, but we weren't really sure if the food would actually live up to the legend.

Fortunately, we were pleasantly surprised. The restaurant did look exactly as we expected - it's dark and has a definite "went there as a kid with my grandparents" vibe, which may have something to do with how many of the customers somewhat resemble my grandparents.

We sat at a table right in the middle of the bustling room and started to look over the menu. We all decided on crab cakes - how couldn't we? - though Cooper and Mike amped it up with a surf and turf pairing the crab cake with a porterhouse. We also ordered stuffed mushrooms which, as it turned out, were enormous. And delicious - they were topped with crab imperial and really tasty, but so big that we all got nervous about our dinners.

Our meals also came with salads (of the standard, icebergy variety, which also remind me of dinner with my grandparents circa 1985) and a pre-appetizer of cucumber and onion marinated in a tart vinaigrette. The flavor was fresh and tangy and I loved it.

But, of course, the real attraction was the entrees. Cooper's and Mike's steaks weren't really much to write home about (they were fine, just not special), and the fries were fine but forgettable. The crab cakes, though, really did live up to their reputation. They were big balls of chunky sweetness bound with just enough filler to make sure the sphere stuck together. Do I know where the crab came from? No, not even close. but it had more than enough flavor on its own - it was much better than some of the tasteless crab that's sometimes served.

Service was good, too, aside from a couple little lags (I waited for a while for a glass of wine because of a bartender screwup, but that's not the end of the world). So we were pleased with our meals - very pleased - and with the overall meal. Is it trendy? No. Is it where you want to take a first date that needs impressing? Probably not. But is it friendly and good and does it feel like Baltimore? Absolutely. And that's worth a whole lot.

[Photo credit: an old post (about restaurants that could use a bit of a refurbish) on the Sun's Dining @ Large blog.]


Pappa's Seafood on Urbanspoon

Friday, July 09, 2010

Hot Dog Heaven: Judging the Meat-in-a-Casing Throwdown

Alicia's family is a competitive bunch. Last year, they had a Memorial Day burger throwdown. This year, for the fourth, they stuck with the summer foods and held a "meat in a casing" competition. The entries could be cooked any way and could be anything, as long as they included a meat in casing.

But cooking alone wasn't enough of a competition for the Kelly crew. As an added bonus, the party, which was held at Alicia's Aunt Martha and Uncle Joe's house, was a "jorts" party, so the race for "best jorts" was also on. Jorts, in case you're wondering, are jean shorts. We looked good:

There were fourteen entries in all and as a judge, I tried them all. My co-judges, Cooper and Alicia's Uncle Joe, were just as lucky. The entries received a score of one to eight for each of three categories: taste, presentation, and overall, which included the general success of the entry as well as the strength of the concept. As it turns out, we took judging pretty seriously.

Here we are trying the very first entry, the nauseating, but hilarious "Babylicious." I think our faces convey exactly how we were feeling:

This is a close-up of the Babylicious and yes, that IS what it's supposed to look like. It was a Vienna sausage stuck in bean baby food. Words can't describe how bad it smelled. Or tasted:

Fortunately, the rest of the entries were better, starting with the "Italian Stallion," created by a bunch of Alicia's cousins (that's Kelly holding the platter). They threaded pasta through spicy Italian sausage and presented it on skewers, as an appetizer:

There was one additional appetizer presented - the "Redneck's Favorite," which included bologna as it's meat in a casing:

Once we got to the entree portion of the evening, we moved inside and settled down at a table, Top Chef judge-style. Kyle and Mary presented their offering, the "Red, White and Blue" first. Kyle's good friend Gaeten is a butcher up in Buffalo and he created a Buffalo chicken sausage just for the contest and overnighted it to the lake house.

The flavor of this sausage was really outstanding - it came in second for taste - and the Eddie's bun was an excellent match for the dog. Unfortunately, Kyle didn't realize that presentation was part of the score, so his presentation was limited to his outrageous jorts outfit:

Mike's parents put together a beautiful plate -it tied for first in presentation - and a very tasty "Maryland Is for Crabs" sausage. It was, obviously, topped with Maryland crabmeat. The crab was cold, which offered a nice contrast to the spicy sausage:

Alicia's aunt who made the "Redneck Favorite" appetizer also delivered a garlicky, tasty pasta salad, which offered a nice break from the traditional sausage-in-a-bun format (and a few very welcome vegetables):

Alicia's Aunt Martha (also co-judge Joe's wife) created a fantastic entry, the Sonora dog, inspired by hot dogs eaten in the Southwest. The hot dog was topped with guacamole, salsa verde, tomatoes, lettuce and chipotle mayonnaise and the whole thing was presented in a sombrero. This was a favorite overall, ranking high on all three categories:

Alicia and Mike, who tied with Mike's parents for first in presentation, started with their outfits, wearing matching shirts (Maggie had a onesie), saying "I Boh Dog" - unsurprisingly, they also went with the Maryland theme:

They presented their dog on a crab platter with crab chips, a Natty Boh and homemade Natty Boh mustard. The hot dog itself was topped with the mustard and cheese and Old Bay bacon. Old Bay bacon - it just doesn't get much better than that, right?

Another group of Alicia's cousins came through with the "Cardiac Arrest" - a name that scared us and impressed us all at once. Their hot dog was topped with macaroni and cheese, tater tots and ground beef. Yes, it was a lot, but you know what? It was good. We also liked that in all its excess, it seemed really and truly American:

Alicia's cousin, Jackie, and her fiance, Jim, live in Cincinatti (he's from there), so their entry included chili made Cincy-style, using a recipe based on the one used at Skyline Chili. But first, their outfits:
That's a wig, by the way. And the pictures on their shirts are of them drinking Chymes, which is super-cheap Canadian whiskey. They looked good. As did their dog, which had really nice flavor and was something of a judge's favorite. We loved that they used a regional specialty:

Unfortunately for all the other entrants, Alicia's Uncle Robert really brought his A-game. I met him for the first time the night before the competition and he seemed to be feeling a little nervous and he was a touch concerned that Cooper and I might be biased towards the Baltimore crew (his smack talk was pretty funny).

He didn't need to worry, though, as the "Devil's Delight" took home first place overall, first in taste and crowd favorite. He topped a white hot - a Rochester-area specialty - with a homemade grilled vegetable and black bean salsa and cheese. The result was pretty outstanding - the crunch and fresh flavor of the salsa provided the perfect contrast to the white hot (which had excellent snap) and the colors looked great together:

Alicia's parents - Big G and Nana - took their presentation up a notch, adding a musical element. Big G danced their "Dogzilla" in to the tune of Japanese drums:

The dog itself was topped with a spicy meat and onion concoction with great flavor. Unfortunately, by this time, all the "great flavors" were starting to run together:

Bill's entry was totally different from everything else we tried. A few weeks ago, upon learning that Cooper and I had never even heard of the Taylor pork roll - a New Jersey specialty - he decided to make his own version of the sandwich, which includes cheese, fried egg, and several slices of pork roll on a hard, round bun.

We loved the regionality of it, of course, and thought it had great flavor. So great that we had him make us more sandwiches for breakfast the next morning:

And finally, the very last entry came from Kelly family friend, Duffy, who grilled the absolute longest turkey sausage we had ever seen. It actually had great flavor and we were all pleasantly surprised to find out it was turkey. The best part, though, was her presentation. You can't read it here, but underneath the dog, in mustard, Duffy wrote, "A Woman's Dream."

In our food-drunk state, we thought that was just about the funniest thing we'd ever heard:


So that was it - all fourteen entries. This is what my plate looked like by the end:

Cooper's plate, however, was completely clean. He still might not be feeling quite right.

Of course, the meat in a casing contest wasn't the only competition that day. Alicia's cousin Joey won an overwhelming victory for his jorts outfit:

Yes, those are Rollerblades. And yes, he kept them on for almost the whole party.

All in all, it was a hell of a party. I had a blast judging and it certainly seemed like everyone had a really good time. The jorts costumes were hilarious - from the short-shorts on the guys to the high-waisted 80's jeans cut-offs on the girls, everybody made a serious effort. And even though there were no real prizes, the winners took a lot of pride in their victory.

In fact, Uncle Robert, the big winner, was so excited that he wore his "medals" (repurposed judges badges) out the following day:


Now THAT is how you celebrate America.

Thursday, July 08, 2010

Old School Thursday: Lots of Chocolate Edition

Today is National Milk Chocolate with Almonds Day. Because, well, why not?

It’s also a day full of interesting birthdays. First, today in 1831, John Styth Pemberton was born. Pemberton’s not exactly a household name, but maybe he should be, since he was the pharmacist who invented Coca-Cola in 1885.

A decade later, in 1844, another American icon-creator was born – Mary Johnson Bailey Lincoln. She was the original author of the Boston Cooking School Cook Book, which was later taken over by Fannie Farmer. And we all know how that turned out.

Our next birthday doesn’t belong to a person, but to something that is still an important part of American life. Today in 1881, the ice cream sundae was invented by Edward Berner of Two Rivers, Wisconson. It was a Sunday and apparently, on Sundays, flavored soda water wasn’t served to “respectable people,” so instead of using chocolate syrup to flavor a soda, Berner used it as an ice cream topper. The rest is history.

Today is also Wolfgang Puck’s birthday (he was born in 1949). Puck, obviously, is one of the original celebrity chefs. The Cindy Crawford of chefs, you could say.

Unfortunately, the last piece of history today is a sad one. Today in 1957, chocolatier William Cadbury passed away. At least we will always have the eggs.

There’s so much to celebrate today. Maybe start with a meal out of the Fannie Farmer cookbook, jazzed up with a few Puckish techniques, then finish it with a Coke float sundae, made with Cadbury chocolate? Chocolate with almonds, of course.

Wednesday, July 07, 2010

The Fourth of July at Keuka Lake

As previously mentioned, we spent this past weekend at Alicia's family's lake house on Keuka Lake in western New York. As usual, the weather was gorgeous and we had a blast.

The highlight of the weekend was a big "jorts" (aka jean shorts) party and meat-in-a-casing cookoff (for which Cooper and I were judges), and I'll write about all of that later this week. Until then, though, here are a few pictures of the trip:



Our little gang, hanging out on the end of the dock. What you can't see, unfortunately, is that Dixon and Maggie are wearing matching fourth of July outfits.

Cooper, Bill, Kyle, Mary, Dixon and I in front of the RV, just before our six hour ride home - with no air conditioning. It wasn't exactly cold in there.

Cooper and his co-pilot. Dixon has to sit in the front of the RV since there are no seatbelts for his booster in the back.

Kyle caught the first fish of the trip, but only after Mary baited his hook for him.

Unfortunately for Bill, he and Kyle had made a bet about who would catch the first fish. Loser had to jump in the water wearing his jorts. Bill really stepped it up - he's mid-flip in this shot.

At the lake, nobody goes hungry. Both Alicia and Mike's parents spend a hilarious amount of time cooking - and they were both there. This is breakfast on Saturday morning - eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, toast and English muffins with homemade jelly, waffles, and lake trout.

And this is breakfast on our last morning - we closed out our "meat in a casing" weekend with hot dog bun French toast, a Mrs. Kelly creation. She decided to make it just because the buns were there, and had low expectations, but it was really good. As it turns out, hot dog buns are the perfect size and consistency for a delicious French toast.

Breakfast is one of the bigger meals at the lake and we sometimes skip lunch. But we don't skip snacks...which is why we ended up with about 50 bags of chips. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of the vat of queso dip Alicia and Mike made (with help from Mrs. Barger). It was enough for about 30 or 40 people. At that point, I think there were ten people at the house.

Mrs. Kelly and Mrs. Barger are dessert-making machines in the kitchen. While we were there, they made two types of cupcakes, frosted brownies, and pretzel salad, all from scratch. The cupcakes above were a super successful experiment - pineapple upside down cupcakes. They were delicious.

Later this week: meat in a casing gets thrown down by the extended Kelly family. And I eat it all.

Tuesday, July 06, 2010

Trendy Tuesday: Agua Fresca



Three mentions is a trend, right? Because I've seen agua fresca recipes all over the place lately - in Food & Wine, on Shoes & Cocktails and, most notably, in the Chowhound newsletter, which featured this amazingly delicious-sounding spiked pineapple version of the drink.

I haven't made it yet, but if the weather keeps up like this, I'm not going to have a choice.

Friday, July 02, 2010

Entertaining Friday: Oh, It's Entertaining, Alright

I am about to get in this:

To go here:


The bottom picture, in case you can't tell, is Mike and Alicia's family's house on Keuka Lake. We've been there a few times and it is one of my very favorite places to visit.

And the picture up top, in case you're not familiar with the genre, is an RV. That's right - a recreational vehicle. Not just any RV, either. This one happens to be the Pollard family RV, purchased specifically for this trip to Keuka Lake. It's a real cherry, too - a 1987 Toyota Escaper. That's right, kids, I said eighty-seven. As in, only three years younger than my sister. Who's not all that young anymore.

The RV purchase came about sort of casually. A month or so ago, Alicia's mom and dad were here visiting and suggested that we (Cooper and Dixon and I, plus Kyle and Mary and Bill) rent an RV to come up to the lake for the fourth. They've got a full house with family, but an enormous driveway. We thought it sounded like a pretty good idea and Cooper started looking into RV rental.

As it turns out, it's expensive to rent a new RV. So expensive, actually, that it's just smart(ish) financial planning to go ahead and buy an old one (especially if you, like us, have somebody well-versed in engine-fixing on board). So a few ebay hours later, we became the proud owners of twenty ridiculous feet of machinery.

So far, Cooper has resisted Alicia's and my suggestions that we paint it hot pink and reupholster the insides in Lilly fabrics, but I'm sure he can't hold out for too much longer.

There's one more thing that makes the entire RV purchase extra ridiculous. When I was 13, my family went on a three-week trip to the Great American West in a 30 foot RV. It might have been the worst three weeks of my life. Yes, it is pretty out there. But have you ever been in a small space with a 13 year old girl? I wouldn't recommend it - and I was that girl. I hated the West, hated the activities, and especially hated my family. I'm sure the feeling was mutual. You know what else I hated? All of the photographic evidence. Like this little gem:

Pretty scenery, right? And awesomely 1989 shirt on me? I believe it's Outback Red.

That picture hangs in the playroom at my parents' house. IN POSTER FORM. I think it's my parents' revenge for my three weeks of bad attitude.

Anyway, dark memories and awkward family photos aside, I am really looking forward to this weekend - even the drive.

And I hope everyone out there has a safe and happy fourth!

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